Scientific fact-finding mission in Argentina with promising outlook
Bern, 02.07.2015 - From 23-28 June, an official Swiss delegation headed by Mauro Dell’Ambrogio, State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation, investigated the potential for cooperating more closely with Argentina in higher education and research. Lino Barañao, the Argentinian Minister for Science, Technology and Productive Innovation, and Mr Dell’Ambrogio signed a joint declaration which creates the basis for expanding cooperation activities between institutions and individuals.
The joint declaration states that bilateral cooperation in science between Switzerland and Argentina will be extended in the form of joint research projects, grants and exchanges and the transfer of knowledge and technological expertise. The Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and its Argentinian counterpart, the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), have also agreed to work more closely together. In addition, the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) and the Argentinian Balseiro Institute have laid the foundations for cooperation in the field of material sciences research.
In Switzerland’s international strategy in the field of Education, Research and Innovation, there has, as yet, been little discussion or cooperation with Argentina regarding science policy. In recent years, the Argentinian government has been making considerable efforts to promote higher education and research, by increasing the research budget and investing in research infrastructures, adapting legislation and setting priorities on agriculture, the environment, sustainable development, social development, energy and health.
The fact that the high-level delegation was made up of representatives from the SNSF, both federal institutes of technology, the PSI, Agroscope, the universities of Geneva, Lausanne, St Gallen and Zurich, and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Southern Switzerland demonstrates the growing interest of the science community in Switzerland in cooperating more closely with Argentinian institutions and researchers.
Following this fact-finding mission, State Secretary Dell’Ambrogio and part of the delegation travelled on to Brazil, where they met with funding agencies and research institutes from the state of Rio de Janeiro on 29 June. The evaluation process in the third call for joint research projects, part of the bilateral cooperation programme with Brazil, is currently under way. The main players in this are the Swiss National Science Foundation and FAPERJ, the research funding organisation of the state of Rio de Janeiro, where a branch of swissnex has been successfully helping Swiss education, research and innovation representatives to network since 2014.Address for enquiries
Mauro Moruzzi
Ambassador
State Secretary for Education, Research and Innovation
Head of International Relations
Tel: +41 58 462 68 36
Mauro.Moruzzi@sbfi.admin.ch
Publisher
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation
http://www.sbfi.admin.ch
